Narendra Modi’s government accuses environmental charity’s India wing of
trying to stall India’s economic development by campaigning against mining
and nuclear projects

Authorities have banned Greenpeace’s India branch from receiving foreign donations, in the latest crackdown against environmental and development charities with international connections.

The nationalist government of Narendra Modi has cancelled or restricted the foreign funding licences of nearly 9,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) since he was elected prime minister last year.

Greenpeace India has been a particular target for Indian leaders who accuse it of promoting a liberal Western agenda to hamper the country’s economic development by campaigning against mining and nuclear projects.

India has now cancelled the licence which allows the environmental group to collect money from overseas, a move that could seriously restrict its activities in the country.

The charity is expected to launch a court challenge against the decision. The government said that Greenpeace India violated rules on foreign funding, withheld financial information and damaged the country’s economic interests.

The move was “a desperate attempt to get us to cease our work” and “yet another attempt to silence criticism”, said Vinuta Gopal, a senior Greenpeace India official.

In January, Priya Pillai, a prominent Indian campaigner with Greenpeace was told at Delhi airport that she could not board a plane for a scheduled visit to Britain.

Activists of GreenPeace rappell down their office building where they are head quartered to unfurl banners 'democracy' and 'freespeech' in Bangalore Photo: Getty Images

Two months later, the Delhi high court declared that the order was illegal, despite the government’s argument that Ms Pillai intended to foster a “negative image” of India that could discourage prospective investments.

Other leading NGOs – including the Ford Foundation, a major US-based philanthropic agency, and the Christian charity Caritas – were placed on a watch-list that requires every rupee of foreign donations to be approved by the home ministry in a laborious bureaucratic process.

The BJP’s suspicions of foreign NGOs chime strongly with many Indians who believe that Western influences are trying to restrict their economic growth.

In an earlier clash with Greenpeace, the government froze its bank accounts and suspended its foreign funding licence in April, but the following month a Delhi court overturned the administration’s moves.

The group’s criticisms have infuriated the government which has accused it "stalling development projects" by protesting against large infrastructure plans.

According to Indian media, a secret report by the main intelligence agency recently warned that delays to key development projects being sought by Greenpeace and other activist groups could knock up to three percentage points off India’s annual growth rate.

But Ms Gopal struck a defiant note in response to what she called “this latest melodrama”. She said: “Since the majority of our funding comes from Indian citizens, most of our work can indeed continue.

“We are confident that people will show they are ready to fight back in style, and send a clear message to those in power: you just can’t muzzle dissent in a democracy."

India has long been a favourite destination for foreign NGOs. Diplomats have been careful about their observations, but Richard Verma, the US ambassador to India, expressed his concerns about “the potentially chilling effects of these regulatory steps focussed on NGOs”.

“These tactics are more reminiscent of the Soviet Union or current day People’s Republic of China rather than a country that takes pride in its democratic institutions and its commitment to civil liberties and personal freedoms,” said Sumit Ganguly, director of the Centre on American and Global Security at Indiana University in Bloomington, referring to the targeting of Ms Pillai.

“What’s the point of being a liberal democracy if you are so threatened by a foundation that spends a few million dollars in your country?”